This invention relates generally to power steering devices for automobiles and like vehicles and more particularly to those of the rack and pinion type including a pinion shaft operatively associated with the steering wheel of the vehicle, a rack rod having a rack formed thereon for meshing engagement with the pinion on the pinion shaft, and an oil-hydraulic power actuator associated with the rack rod to drive the latter axially thereof.
In the past, power steering devices of the type described have generally involved various difficulties in operation and maintenance, including substantial wear of rack and pinion tooth surfaces, which results in increase in backlash, and lateral deflection of the rack rod under load, which often causes the meshing teeth to sieze and impair smooth operation of the rack rod and hence of the device as a whole.